From Phoenix, Arizona

My mind is on fire with the events of the past days… of the people I saw, of the places that I went to, of the nostalgic conversations and the feelings I felt as I revisited it all. I missed it all, I missed them all, and there were still so many people I wanted to see that I didn’t get a chance to.

I love Riverside more than ever, now that I don’t live there. It’s a wonderful place to go home to. The only thing that is weird is how I don’t live there, and now it’s a vacation destination, and I can only see as many people as I can cram into different dinners and coffee dates. Everyone asked me, with a serious tone “Are you happy out there?” and the truth is that I am very happy in New York City. I love being in the center of the world. I love that city, and the events, and the life there. It is hard being away from the comforts, normalcy, and yes even slower-moving life in southern California. But I know that it’s still there for whenever I come home, and the life I have on vacation that I love is not the life I would lead if I was a resident there in the normal grind of life. So I just take it one day at a time and it allows me to be in the present fascination of the new adventure of my life.

I’ve always loved the desert landscape, and I always love these stopovers in Phoenix where I get to stare out at the orange and red rocks and mesas and palm trees, it’s my halfway house and it’s my haven that marks my way both to and from home. Off to a new adventure, or coming back to the comforts of home, I see both of that in Phoenix. And as of now, I’m not sure which stage I’m in, because I was a little homesick for New York City already.

All the family, the aunts, uncles, cousins, my only grandma, my sisters, the cats, all my friends in San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, and beyond… thanks for a warm homecoming and see you all again in the future.